test anxiety?

Hi everyone, I am a pre-nursing student currently taking Eng Comp1, Biology, and intermediate algebra. I am doing absolutely wonderful in all but algebra. Well, let me rephrase that. I am an A student ,I can do my study plan, homework, and chapter review in math and be just fine but test time comes and i feel pretty confident until i see my grade. Its the only time i get a worse than average grade in the class. Do you think its test anxiety? If so, how do you cope? Thank you in advance.

It might be the subject or grading difficulty of the teacher. Take my human anatomy teacher for example. I studied my butt off for the first exam and got an 84% (I'm a good student and was less than happy). After I found out the class average was a 56 I let up on myself but gained an understanding on how I needed to apply my time differently to be successful on the tests. Talk to your teacher and ask if he/she has any advice. Most teachers enjoy enthusiastic students!(although not all loll) If you don't feel anxiety during test taking for your other courses and you have no previous history I would most likely dismiss it. At the same time if you keep telling yourself you have test anxiety you might end up developing it! Try and determine why you're not doing as well as you'd like (study strategies, data retention, not answering questions the way your teacher wants) and install new methods to guarantee your success. Good Luck!

Feb 22, '13

Thank you. Yes i think its partly the subject for me. I will ask the teacher for advice.

Feb 22, '13

Seek out a great tutor.

Feb 22, '13

Agreed with PP.. Ask the teacher for advice for starters.
For example:
Our university has a "math lab". It is a walk-in welcome homework/tutoring center than is open weekdays in the afternoon from 1-5pm. It is free and staffed by several math professors. You come prepared with questions and the professors either help you one on one (on slow days) or in a small group of 3-4 (for example).
This service was so helpful in my college algebra class. Hopefully your school offers a similar program! I would definitely look into it.
If not, finding a tutor could beneficial. Good luck!

Feb 22, '13

I don't think i need a tutor but if i did get one it would have to be online because i am my sons main caregiver while my husband works. The school does offer free tutoring.

Feb 22, '13

If you had test anxiety, you would know it. There's a difference between someone who can't recall information or gets frustrated during tests vs someone who completely shuts down once the test is in front of them. There are many different levels of test anxiety, but you have to determine if you are having true anxiety or just nervousness. Do your emotions stop your ability to think? You said that you feel confident after taking tests, so I would think that you don't have test anxiety. I'm sure you have nervousness, but that's a good thing. It sounds more like a disconnect between how you are answering the questions. See if you are using the right tactics and strategies for exams.

If you are feeling nervousness, just do stuff to relax... Breathing, relaxing, even talking to yourself can help. One thing I always do during a test is to allow myself a quick break. If you are taking a 50 question exam, put your pencil down 2-3 times during the test and breath a couple of times or rub your eyes. Bring everything back down. If people are finishing the exam before you, don't let your pride push you into taking the test faster. People always do that. Students start handing the test in and then it turns into a race against yourself. It doesn't matter if you are the last person to hand in a test and it is not testament of how smart you are. There's always a person who brags about how they finished it in 20 minutes. Many times, they aren't the highest score. Go at your own pace.

Flip through the test an examine the format of the test. It takes one minute. Scan the questions and assess what you up against. See if there is a question that you want to skip and do last. In algebra, there always seemed to be one question that had way to many steps and I would spend a lot of time on it. Then, I would feel under the gun to finish the exam. If I skipped it and did it last, I knew that I had the rest of the time to do one question. Then, I had time to really think. Exams are all about strategy.

And like everyone else said, talk to your instructor and find out what you missing. Always make appointments for office hours and go over the exam with the instructor. Everything will click when you have hindsight. Then, find out why you answered it wrong and fix it for the next test.